COLORING KITS
Another permutation of the coloring
trend is the emergence of coloring kits,
which bundle coloring books with crayons,
colored pencils, or pens. Kindelsperger of
Quarto says the success of kits is because
they’re “so easy to buy and get started.
It’s a great, easy gift, and it’s also a great
self-purchase.” Quarto has two portable
2016 coloring kits by coauthors Lacy
Mucklow and Angela Porter: Portable Color
Me Happy Coloring Kit and Portable Color
Me Calm Coloring Kit (Jan., $15.99).
Kathleen Schmidt, director of marketing
and publicity for Running Press, says the
publisher has seen great success with its
mini-kits, which are only a few square
inches, and is expecting a good run through
the spring and Mother’s Day promotions.
“It’s a trend I don’t see going away anytime soon,” she says.
BEYOND COLORING
While publishers keep churning out
coloring titles, many are thinking about
how coloring can be a gateway to other
artistic pursuits.
Draw Your Big Idea: The Ultimate Creativity
Tool for Turning Thoughts into Action and
Nature (March, $14.99) by
designer and illustrator
Andrew Fox and Drawing
Geometric Kit by Tilman
Zitzmann (March, $19.99).
CREATIVITY
The field journal Do Big
Small Things by Bruce Poon
Tip (Running Press, April,
$18) allows users to record their adventures and log the various ways little things
can make up the big picture. Failed It:
Buying This Book Is the Best Mistake You
Will Make by Erik Kessels (Phaidon,
April, $12.95) features photographs of
failures in advertising, product design,
and signage to remind creative types
that mistakes are a part of the process.
Advice from My 80-Year-Old Self by artist
Susan O’Malley (Chronicle, Feb., $16.95)
features the results of a project in which
O’Malley, who recently died, asked more
than 100 people, “What advice would
your 80-year-old self give you?” and transformed their responses into vibrant text-based images. It’s a book that Bach says
“fits so nicely into that inspirational gift
message that people like to give and
receive.”
TRAVEL/NATURE
For those who like the
great outdoors, there’s How
to Be a Wildflower by Katie
Daisy (Chronicle, March,
$19.95) an illustrated field
guide encouraging self-discovery through encounters
with nature, and The Wander
Society by Keri Smith
(Penguin, March, $20),
based on the practice of enjoying
unscheduled time.
Insider Brooklyn: A Curated Guide to
New York City’s Most Stylish Borough by
Rachel Felder (Harper Design, June,
$26.99) takes readers on a meandering
trip through one of the world’s hippest
destinations, and A Woman’s Guide to the
Wild: Your Complete Outdoor Handbook by
Ruby McConnell (Sasquatch, March,
$18.95) is a handbook for out-doors-loving women, whether
they’re experienced trailblazers
or newbies inspired by Cheryl
Strayed’s Wild.
FOOD/DRINK
Two crowd-pleasing dishes
get the gift-book treatment in
Fries! An Illustrated Guide to the
World’s Favorite Food by Blake
Lingle (Princeton Architectural Press,
April, $16.95) and Where to Eat Pizza
(Phaidon, April, $29.95), a global guide
to the world’s other favorite food.
Chronicle’s Bach says that cocktail and
appetizer titles make popular gift titles
“both for people who want to give hosts
gifts, and those who need to plan a quick,
easy party.” The New Cocktail Hour: The
Essential Guide to Hand-Crafted Drinks
by André Darlington and Tenaya
Darlington (Running Press, April, $22)
stirs together the history, trends, and
techniques of mixing up cocktails at
home. Southern Appetizers: 60 Delectables
for Gracious Get-Togethers (Chronicle,
May, $19.95) offers up party-food
recipes with a Southern twist.
FOR HIM
Bach of Chronicle says, “I can’t tell you
how many people come in asking
for titles for boys and men.
They want that perfect signature
men’s gift, and I love being able
to quickly put those books in
buyers’ hands.”
Within this category, Bach
says booze is always very strong.
Chronicle titles include Drink
Like a Man, from the editors of
Packaged in a flexibound format with
rounded corners, Dad Hacks: Helpful
Hints to Make Life Easier by Dan Marshall
(Harper Design, May, $15.99) offers fully
illustrated, easy-to-follow DIY solutions
for common problems fathers face everyday,
such as reheating leftovers and dealing with
rusty razor blades.
Men’s fashion designer Mark McNairy
offers his irreverent take on sartorial
history in F**k Ivy and Everything Else
(Harper Design, Feb., $29.99). Elizabeth
Gifts & Sidelines